20 Nov 2020
Vet Chiara Giannasi said she had “never removed anything so huge from a dog’s nose before” after 18-month-old springer spaniel presents at County Durham practice.
Paul Imrie
Job Title
An x-ray showing the 8cm stick stuck in the spaniel's nose.
Vet Chiara Giannasi was left amazed after retrieving an 8cm stick from the nose of an 18-month-old springer spaniel.
Meg was rushed to Wear Referrals in Bradbury, County Durham, as an emergency case suffering from a nasty nasal discharge.
Internal medicine clinician Dr Giannasi was taken aback to discover an 8cm stick, which is believed to have been lodged in Meg’s nose for a month.
Dr Giannasi said: “It was an amazing case and I have never removed anything so huge from a dog’s nose before. Meg arrived here as an emergency referral as she was suffering a worrying nasal discharge, but no-one could understand why.
“We immediately performed a CT scan and endoscopy, which involves the use of a flexible fibre-optic camera, to try to identify the problem. We were astonished to find an 8cm stick stuck in her nose.”
Identifying the cause of Meg’s nasal problems was made easier due to the high-tech equipment and expertise at Wear, but removing the stick was still a tricky proposition – although the team managed to do so without resorting to surgery.
Dr Giannasi said: “It was difficult to extract due to the sheer size and its proximity to the back of the throat, but we managed to remove it all without having to resort to invasive surgery.
“Happily, Meg has made a very good recovery and there’s no long-term damage or complications, so everyone is delighted with the outcome.”
Meg’s owner believe it must have become stuck during a Scottish holiday when the dog was running through a plantation of young trees and suddenly came out sneezing.
